Page 104 of Royal Bargain

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The bed’s unmade, the covers rumpled like someone sat on the edge recently.

The bathroom door’s cracked. I check it.

Empty.

But Lily?—

She’s here. Thank Christ. Fast asleep in her crib, her little chest rising and falling in soft, steady breaths.

Her fist curled near her cheek. Safe.

Ana isn’t.

Cold sweat breaks across the back of my neck.

I whip around, stalk back through the apartment, and rip the front door open. The hallway blurs around me. Two guards. Right where I left them.

Chatting. Relaxed. Oblivious.

“Where the fuck is she?” I snarl, storming toward them.

Both freeze. Eyes wide.

“Where’s Ana?” I snap, grabbing one by the front of his jacket and slamming him into the wall.

“She—she should be inside,” he stammers. “We didn’t see her leave. I swear?—”

“She’s not inside,” I growl. “So try again.”

His gaze flicks to the other guy, pleading for backup.

“I—I don’t know. Maybe she went out the back?”

My blood goes ice cold.

I yank my phone from my pocket and dial her number.

One ring.

Two.

Voicemail.

Straight to fucking voicemail.

I stare at the screen like it betrayed me. Her phone is off. Either she turned it off?—

Or someone turned it off for her. “Goddammit, Ana,” I mutter—and then I snap.

My fingers clench around the phone and I hurl it across the room.

It hits the wall with a loud crack and shatters, pieces scattering across the floor like broken glass.

The sudden sound jolts Lily awake.

She lets out a sharp wail, her tiny cry slicing through the tension like a knife. My heart lurches. “Shit—shit, baby, I’m sorry,” I murmur, already crossing the room and scooping her up.

She’s trembling, her face scrunched up and red, her little hands flailing.

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